India lose fifth ODI by 6 wkts, end England tour without a win

Cardiff, Sep 16: India's miserable tour of England ended without a win as the home side spanked them by six wickets under Duckworth-Lewis method in the rain-affected fifth and final cricket One-Dayer with Rahul Dravid finishing his illustrious ODI career on a losing side here today. [Score Card]

Put into bat, India rode on a fluent century from Virat Kohli (107) and substantial contributions from Dravid (69) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50 not out) to post an impressive 304 for six on a batting friendly Sophia Gardens pitch.

Chasing the challenging target and their innings interrupted by intermittent rain, England stuttered to 166 for four in the 26th over but recovered to race to the revised target of 241 with 10 balls to spare with Jonathan Trott (63) and captain Alastair Cook (50) being the main contributors.

Debutant Jonny Bairstow and Ravi Bopara, who knocked off the winning runs, also chipped in with unbeaten knocks of 41 and 37 respectively.

The target was revised twice earlier as the start of England run chase was delayed due to rain. First it was revised to 295 from 47 overs and then to 270 from 40 overs. It was finally revised to 241 from 34 overs and England reached the target comfortably.

With the loss, India had to return home without any win in the disastrous tour. They were whitewashed 0-4 in the four-match Test series, beaten in the one-off Twenty20 International before ending the tour by losing the five-match ODI series 0-3.

The disappointing performance, one of the worst ever, meant that India will slip to fifth position ti ICC ODI rankings while England will be a rung above.